Article of footwear



A g- 1 F. H.- MARTIN v 2,253 ,860

ARTICLE OF FOOTWEAR Filed July 24; 1940 Patented Aug. 26, 1941 ARTICLE OF FOOTWEAR Frederick H. Martin, Belmont, Mass assignor to The B. F. Goodrich Company, New York, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application July 24, 1940, Serial No. 347,211

2 Claims.

This invention relates to footwear, especially footwear of the type having foot and leg portions, including shoe pacs and boots.

Heretofore the lacing stay constructions of shoe pacs and boots have been such that considerable pressure on the foot of the wearer has developed in the region over the instep as a result of crowding of the material and the formation of uncomfortable wrinkles in such region. This condition has occurred especially in the case of water-proof footwear of the type that has been closed in the front thereof or has had a slitted construction with a sealed tongue, the material underlying the lacing stays in the instep region aggravating the pressure condition when wrinkles have been formed in the lacing stays under flexure of the boot.

The chief objects of this invention are to provide a lacing stay construction for shoe pacs and boots such that discomfort in the instep region under flexure of the boot is minimized, and to provide these results together with a close fit of the footwear around the ankle and leg. More specifically it is an object to provide a lacing stay structure in which rows of eyelets are uninterrupted in the leg portion, and are interrupted by a scalloped construction in the instep portion, so that the eyelet portions in the instep portion are capable of being individually flexed and bent, even when closely laced, and so that objectionable wrinkling of the stay structure under flexure is minimized. It is an object to provide a scalloped construction of the lacing stay in the instep portion such that the eyelet scallops, while they may be positioned close together for close lacing, are nevertheless capable of sliding over one another under extreme flexure of the boot so that such scallops do not interfere with one another during the flexure, and a neat-appearing and comfortable, close-fitting construction is provided.

These and further objects will appear from the following description reference being had to the accompanying drawing in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a shoe pac made in accordance with and embodying the invention.

Fig. 2' is a fragmentary view on an enlarged scale showing the lacing stay at the instep portion.

Fig. 3 is a section taken along the line 33 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a section taken along the line 4-4 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 5 is a viewof the shoe pac of Fig. 1 when laced in the instep region and flexed forwardly a moderate extent.

Fig. 6 is a view like Fig. 5 showing the shoe pac flexed forwardly a considerable extent.

In accordance with the invention I provide a lacing stay extending downwardly along the leg, ankle portion and instep region of the footwear with lacing means, preferably eyelets, closely spaced along such stay structure for close lacing, the stay structure in the leg portion being continuous without interruptions between eyelets for firmness and neat appearance, and the stay structure in the instep region being scalloped to provide interruptions between adjacent eyelets to facilitate flexure in this region in accordance 'with'the objects of the invention. The invention is illustrated as applied to footwear of the waterproof, shoe pac type constructed of rubberized fabric.

With reference to the drawing, the shoe pac comprises a foot portion I0, an ankle portion II and a leg portion [2, all constructed as an integral unit and having an outer rubber layer l3 and a fabric lining M. The instep region is indicated generally at IS. The front of the pac is slitted at 16 to facilitate putting on and taking off the pac, the margins of the slit being of rubber composition preferably reinforced by fabric strips l1 and I8.

A tongue I9 is provided throughout the extent of the slit, said tongue comprising a fabric lining 20 having an outer layer of rubber 2| and having its margins 22, 23 folded forwardly and inwardly in bellows fashion and sealed to the wall of the boot at 24, 25 throughout the extent of the slit I6 so that the pac is water-tight throughout its height, and ample extent of spreading is provided for accommodating entrance and exit of the foot.

A pair of lacing stays 28, 21 comprising rubber material 28, 29 reinforced by fabric strips 30, 3|, are united integrally at the outer face of the pac along the front margins thereof throughout the extent of the slit i6. Each stay is uniform in Width throughout the leg portion thereof and has a row of eyelets 32, 32, the rows of eyelets extending from the top of the boot downwardly over the instep region. The lower portion of each stay extending over the instep region has a scalloped margin as shown providing a plurality of tabs 33, 33, each individual to an eyelet in such region. These tabs are individually flexibl and bendable, and even when the boot is laced up closely as shown in Figs. 5 and 6 the tabs are capable of flexing to slide over one another under extreme flexure as shown in Fig. 6 so that in the instep region no undesirable buckling or wrinkling of the stays will occur such as to cause uncomfortable pressure on the foot of the wearer.

Each stay preferably is specially reinforced in the instep region so that the individually movable tabs or scallops will not be torn out under stress. Such reinforcement may comprise a cord or strip of rolled fabric reinforcement 34 embedded in the material of the stay preferably at a position just back of the scallops at or near the region of attachment of the stay to the body of the footwear. The reinforcement 34 itself isiiexible, and in this association with the stay structure is eifective to perform its function of reinforcement without objectionably restricting the flexibility of the scalloped stay in the instep region.

The shoe pac boot or other footwear including the lacing stay structure may be assembled from parts out from rubber and fabric material, and upon vulcanization of the assembled structure a unitary water-proof construction is provided.

Variations may be made without departing from the scope of the invention as it is defined in the following claims.

I claim:

1. An article of waterproof rubber and fabric footwear of the type having foot and leg portions comprising a lacing stay structure at the front thereof extending downward over the instep region, said stay structure comprising at said instep region a plurality of lacing tabs individually flexible and bendable for lacing across said region with minimum pressure of the footwear on the foot in such region under flexure, and a stifdy flexible strip reinforcement embedded in the material of said stay structure adjacent the roots of said tabs.

2. An article of footwear of the type having foot and leg portions and a bellows tongue of rubberized fabric, said footwear comprising lacing stays of rubberized fabric at the front thereof extending outwardly from said portions along the leg and instep regions and overlying said bellows tongue, opposed rows of eyelets in said leg and instep regions of the stays, said stays being uninterrupted between eyelets in the leg region and having scalloped margins in the instep region with an eyelet individual to each scallop providing individual flexibility of eyelet portions in the instep region and ability of the scallops to slide over one another under extensive flexure of the foot in such instep region, and stiiliy flexible strip reinforcements secured to the material of the stays along a plurality of scallops at the roots of the scallops.

FREDERICK H. MARTIN. 

